Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

Mergers can often be a little murky, but in the case of Origin Design and Insight Creative, they’re adamant it’s all about clarity. After Insight Creative purchased Origin Design in February last year, the two companies have finally aligned to reveal their new single brand, simply called ‘Insight’. And with that comes a new creative strategy that ties in with a bold and clean look.

It’s all rather evolutionary, according to Mike Tisdall, Insight's managing director of and the former managing director of Insight Creative.

“When Insight Creative purchased Origin Design last year, we always intended to work, think and act as one. Becoming Insight is a tangible representation of what we’ve been working towards over the past 16 months.”

And like a lot of mergers, the blending of the two companies has facilitated a wider market reach.

“Uniting as one, our creative offer has strengthened across brand, digital media, investor relations and print. Insight is now genuinely greater than the sum of its parts,” comments Tisdall.

Former Origin Design owner and now Insight creative director, Brian Slade, lead the new identity work and says it’s all about whittling out the clutter and getting the clients story across in a clear and consistent manner.

“In a world filled with complexity and clutter, so much can get lost in the 'noise',” says Slade. “To combat this, Insight’s work is driven by the principle ‘let’s be clear...about everything’. Our goal is to always tell the clearest stories, ones that resonate because they’re packed with insights.”

The phrase ‘let’s be clear’ takes centre stage of Insight’s new visual identity, which also comes complete with a new logo and livery.

According to Slade, Insight Creative had already embarked on a visual identity and when Origin Design came on board, the team picked up, interpreted and worked with the identity Insight Design had already been developing.

“We had two different cultures and organisations so it was important that we had to get a good fit between the two,” says Slade.

Everyone in the design team got the chance to have a play with the new look, to make sure it worked in all forms, including print and online.

“The whole design team have touched it which has been great.”

Insight now has offices in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney.

You’d think for Slade, a man who’s company Origin Design specialised in designing and communicating client brands, having to work on the brand for his own company might have proved a challenge. But Slade has been round the rebrand block on numerous occasions, and was even at the helm when BNA turned into DNA design. So it's nothing too new to him.

“It’s commonly referred to as a nightmare or Builder House syndrome,” he says.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case in this rebrand, with Slade describing it as a “reasonably painless” process and “a good exercise in discipline”.

If we find you doing these things, your comments will be edited without recourse and you may be asked to go away and reconsider your actions.
We respect the right to free speech and anonymous comments. Don’t abuse the privilege.

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Why we like it: In a slightly dystopic and animalistic car spot, Mitsubishi has promoted its new Triton Huntaway II. The video sees the utetravelling over rugged Wellington terrain and highlights the vehicles multiple features. The campaign is based on exclusivity as Mitsubishi’s new ute has just 20 up for grabs. To provide further hype to its audience, the ad finishes with the line, “if you don’t catch it now, you won’t see it for dust”.

Who’s it for:2degrees by DDB

Why we like it:2degrees continue to expose the unusual nature of everyday gestures in its latest spot that lingers over three couples shaking hands. In a world of sloppy, or overly stiff hand-shakes, it is good to see the act of peace and trade be scrutinised. Described as ‘pumping someone up and down as if they are low on air’ the spot films handshakes in slow motion and scrutinises the instinctive way in which we communicate. The spot is a part of 2degrees ‘Second Nature’ campaign, which releases multiple ads and gives focus to the contribution of 2degrees in helping Kiwi businesses up and down the country.

Who’s it for: TVNZ by TVNZ’s Blacksand

Why we like it: Last week, Deadpool hijacked TVNZ’s brand assets, gate crashed multiple TVNZ channel idents and appeared in a Broadcasting Standards spot for TVNZ. The character, played by famous American actor Ryan Reynolds, saw a one-off opportunity for TVNZ, who utilised the sarcastic superhero across multiple platforms and programmes. The ads coincided with the release of Deadpool 2, which is currently on screen in cinemas.